ANNOUNCING “UNTITLED, OR WHAT TO DO WHEN EVERYONE GETS ARRESTED: A CRASS COURSE IN PROVIDING ARRESTEE SUPPORT”

A message from the Zine Project Working Group:

The CRASSZine Project Working Group is pleased to announce the release of its much-anticipated zine about arrestee support efforts before, during, and after the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, MN.

The idea for this zine came about way back in the initial days of forming CRASS, and it was borne out of a sincere need to reflect on our efforts and share our successes and failures with the movement at large to help strengthen it. This zine is intended both as a critical examination for ourselves and other interested parties (no, not you, officer), and as a how-to guide for communities gearing up for a large mobilization in their neck of the woods. There are things we did really well, about which most of us remain proud and that we tend to think you could benefit from replicating. There are things we did poorly, and we hope you don’t fuck up in the same ways. There are things we wish we’d done, or thought of, or did better, and maybe they can be implemented down the road by someone more prepared…someone like you.

We poured our hearts, souls, and nearly two years of our youths into this 100-page zine! And we did it with love for everyone joining us in this struggle against repression. Now we’d like to share it with you:

The RNC 8 Defense Committee facilitated a strategizing session at the United States Social Forum in Detroit last month to help create a plan for providing support and solidarity for the 8 during trial, scheduled to begin on October 25th and expected to last up to two months. You can find out more about how to get involved by visiting the support website and signing up for the low-volume announcement listserv.

And keep an eye out for the Conspiracy Tour (http://conspiracytour.wordpress.com)! This summer, the Conspiracy Tour is going on a whirlwind, month-long excursion across the continental United States to raise awareness of and solidarity for political activists from Minneapolis, MN who are facing severe state repression. Come join in on raising political support and much-needed legal defense funds for the RNC 8 and Scott DeMuth (facing conspiracy charges under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act).Not excited yet? Check out the hilarious promo video!

It’s been alleged that the Tour will include a musical puppet show, a scintillating presentation on the charges the activists are facing, and various (some would say nefarious) ways you can join the Conspiracy to support targets of state repression. In addition to the usual perks of joining a conspiracy, co-conspirators will be learning ways to strengthen and protect their communities from future incidences of state repression. You know, just in case.

Come find solidarity, strategizing, resistance, and community that the state could only dream of! This will be a roadshow to remember even before you read about it in your FBI file.

SUPPORTING RNC PRISONERS

Since our last newsletter, there have been several developments with people serving time from RNC charges. Brad Crowder and Jesse James Forrey have both been released! We’re excited that our friends are back with their loved ones. But David McKay and Matt DePalma are still within the clutches of the prison-industrial complex…and we haven’t forgotten about them!

CRASS is excited to announce a new direction for our Commissary Fund program. Since the beginning, we’ve opened up our general fund to requests for commissary funds so people serving time could buy necessities such as food, stamps, envelopes, personal care products, and whatever else they can get inside to make their time less terrible. Now that all the criminal cases we know of except for the RNC 8 are complete and our zine has been printed, we’ve been able to figure out how much money is left in our general fund and what to do with it.

We’re happy to be able to provide David and Matt with $30 per month in commissary funds from now through the remainder of their sentences! We modeled this change in our Commissary Fund program off the Anarchist Black Cross Federation’s (http://www.abcf.net) Anarchist Subsistence program, which sends anarchists in prison $30 per month in commissary funds.

We hope that these funds can help support these two in their time of need, but there are other ways they need to be supported as well. When you have a moment, write them a letter and let them know what’s going on in your town. Writing to political prisoners is an easy, fun way to support them and show them the solidarity that exists beyond the walls they’re trapped in.

Here’s some info on David and Matt:

David McKay

David McKay had trial the week of January 26, 2009, which resulted in a mistrial due to a hung jury. McKay’s lawyer argued that McKay had been entrapped by FBI informant Brandon Darby. McKay was released on bond and scheduled to begin a retrial on March 16, but that was preempted by him pleading guilty to three charges. His decision to plead guilty may have been influenced by the prosecutor’s underhanded tactic of compelling his friend Brad Crowder to testify against him in the second trial. He was taken back into custody after submitting his plea and sentenced to four years in prison.

Matt DePalma of Michigan took a plea agreement in federal court, admitting to unlawful possession of destructive devices, a federal crime. He was sentenced on March 11, 2009 to 42 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. It is widely believed that he was entrapped by FBI informant Andrew Darst (who later faced his own assault charges in Hennepin County, MN).